The invention relates to a process, particularly a continuous process, for treating animal flesh, for the purpose of removing color and odor. It further relates to the device for carrying out said process. The invention is more particularly applicable to the treatment of fish flesh.
One problem arising is that of the valorisation of the flesh which can still be recovered from carcasses, such as for example meat or fish bones, after the last boning or filleting operation. This problem is particularly important in industries converting sea products. For example after filleting of the fish (i.e. dividing it into fillets), there is left on the bones and the head a certain quantity of flesh which is worth saving. To detach that flesh from the bone or the head would be a lengthy and tedious operation. This explains why mechanical separation processes have been developed and this applies to meat, fish, shellfish, etc . . . .
Such processes, particularly those used for fish, permit the separation of the flesh left on the cartilage and bones for subsequent use as raw material in the preparation of various products.
Unfortunately, the flesh thus obtained has a more or less strong smell, depending on the fish, and an unsatisfactory color, depending both on its nature and on its content in residual blood, etc . . . .
Various process have already been proposed, all of which use ozone for sterilizing animal flesh, and in particular fish flesh, for the purpose of preparing a fish paste (Japanese Patent Application 56/121462).
But usually, the processes using ozone all had as their one or main purpose to sterilize the flesh and not to remove the color and also the odor.
If a certain amount of color or odor was removed, this was definitely insufficient, so that with time, the flesh could color again and bad smells could develop.
It is the object of the present invention to overcome the aforesaid disadvantages by proposing a process capable of acting both on the color of the flesh and on its odor, thus permitting a more effective valorization of the material, and improving the production of the products.
The invention also relates to a device adapted for the continuous treatment of animal flesh according to the invention.
Another object of the invention is to solve the new technical problem which consists in providing a process and a device for treating animal flesh, and in particular fish flesh, for the purpose of removing, continuously and completely, any odor and color therefrom, in a way which is extremely simple, reliable, readily adjustable, inexpensive, and usable on an industrial scale.